Official Rangers partner reacts to Michael Beale decision on Ianis Hagi amid transfer prediction
Michael Beale leaving Ianis Hagi out of the Rangers squad to face PSV Eindhoven will likely lead to the winger’s exit, according to Heart & Hand.
The official club partner reacted on Twitter Monday (21 August) to the squad news for the upcoming clash with the Dutch giants at Ibrox in the first leg of the final Champions League qualifying round, suggestion the “exclusion shows where he is in the manager’s plans”, while predicting that the 24-year-old won’t “be here much longer”.
Hagi had made plain in the wake of his substitute appearance in the 2-1 win over Greenock Morton on Saturday that he wants more opportunities than he is being given [Daily Record, 19 August], but Heart & Hand believes he won’t get them at the club.
Hagi missed over a year with a serious knee injury between last season and the campaign prior, and has only made a total of 13 appearances in the past year and a half.
Can’t wait
Having seen Ryan Kent and Fashion Sakala both leave this summer, with Scott Wright on the brink of going too before his move to Turkey fell through, Hagi might be entitled to expect greater opportunities now.
Beale’s new-look attack has not quite clicked so far this season and there has been a widespread belief that the team is too narrow at the moment.
Rabbi Matondo came back into the side at the weekend and did well enough to put himself in the frame for the PSV game, but Hagi still had to wait for minutes off the bench.
It may be understandable that the manager has been hesitant given the seriousness of Hagi’s injury, and the unfortunate truth of such a long lay-off is that others can overtake you.
But if Hagi isn’t going to get a chance now then he arguably never will at Ibrox so with 10 days left until the transfer deadline he could be the latest attacking exit, with Antonio Colak and Malik Tillman also gone from last season.
It would however leave a lot of weight on Matondo and Wright to provide width in this squad, when neither were close to first choice previously, so the manager has a big decision to make and may need to sign an alternative.
In other Rangers news, yet another first-team exit expected this week as a “saga” is set to finally come to an end.